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External antenna as dish?

so I know you're not aloud to put an antenna on the rooph in the villages, unless its a dish. Is there any external Fm antenna dishes out there that I can hook a roter too? maybe it wont be as good as say the antenna guard, but maybe there's somethin that will at least be better then what I got as far as 6 foot telascoping wip..
 
I know you're not allowed to put an antenna on your roof in the villages, unless it's a dish. Are there any external FM antenna dishes out there that I can mount on a rotor? It may not work as well as, say, the antenna guard, but maybe there's something that will at least be better then what I've got as far as 6-foot telescoping whips go.
 
By "FM antenna dish", what exactly, using proper grammar and spelling, do you mean? An old-style BUD connected to an analogue C/Ku-band receiver? Those aren't of much use these days, since almost everything "up there" that's free-to-air (or free-to-view) is in DVB or Digicipher 2 format.

[size=8pt]If you'll recall, NTSC video was/in carried on satellites as FM signals instead of AM.
 
I'm lookin for something that I can run a coAx cable into a tuner such as the Yamaha T-85. I'd like the antenna to be able to be hooked into a roter. This way I can turn it in different directions to pull in stations from Tampa, Crystal River, Jacksonville. I don't think that those would be too far a stretch for daytime listening. Perhaps the night could pull in SE Georgia and Tallahassee too.
I figure it this way. I've been able to pull Tampa Jacksonville and Crystal River in the car when in a standstill with nulling out say WNDD to get WXCV etc, and with the 6 foot whip, I've been able to get Tallahassee at night. I figure if I can do that with a car radio and boombox, that a dish could at least do that much if such a thing even exists.
I realize that I'd have to modify the T-85's filters to get the best reception for recording airchecks and defeat the stereo muting. I may just bring the one I have from PA next time here instead of gettin a new tuner and modding it. But before I bother with the new tuner I wanna be sure that I can get a dish (something that the villages would allow), before investing in a tuner or bringing the one I already got here.
 
In addition, a plus would be to be able to pull in stations from Daytona Beach, Gainesville, Lakeland or stations such as WMUV (Brunswick, GA), WYRE ((Saint Augustine Beach) , or WAOA(Melbourne)
Maybe there might be a shot at pulling in the LP WIGT in Ocala but I don't think its powerful enough to make it this far out.

So to summarize I'm looking to pull in the following markets.
Crystal River, Tampa, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Daytona Beach, Gainesville, Saint Augustine Beach, and Melbourne.
Some of that may be a bit of a stretch, but maybe not.

Thanks for all your help .
 
It sounds like you're living in a home under an (ugh) HOA, or if the home owner doesn't want an FM antenna on top of the house. If that's the case then an FM yagi or dipole may be better off in an attic. I don't think a dish would work out very well in receiving FM (88-108) signal.
 
what is the difference between an FM yagi or dipole? is that different then the antennaguard that i have up north?
The Villages is a very strict place. They don't let you do stuff like that, put things on your lawn etc. as I'm blind i wouldn't know this per say but I've been told this area is very emaculit looking which is nice visually, but it doesn't work well for antenna's.
If I were to put one of these in my attic could I still rotate it? could it be directional? I'd have to measure the antenna and attic for size which makes sense, but past that are there any other considerations?
 
John, an FM Yagi would be small enough to fit in most attics I would think and mounting it on a pole with a rotor would be possible as well. You would only need 3-4 feet vertical. Before you begin though you should ascertain if your attic is lined with some sort of metal foil (used for heat isolation) as that may attenuate the signal significantly.

Here is a good definition of an FM Yagi:
http://www.kathrein-scala.com/catalog/HDCA-5_FM.pdf
 
John,

A yagi is a directional antenna consisting of a driven element (typically a dipole or folded dipole) and additional parasitic elements (usually a so-called reflector and one or more directors). The reflector element is slightly longer (typically 5% longer) than the driven dipole, whereas the so-called directors are a little bit shorter. This design achieves a very substantial increase in the antenna's directionality and gain compared to a simple dipole. A typical TV antenna on top of a roof is this kind of an antenna. A dipole is an antenna that can be made of a simple wire, with a center-fed driven element. It consists of two metal conductors of rod or wire, oriented parallel and collinear with each other (in line with each other), with a small space between them. It's basically a T-shaped antenna. The picture of an antenna on the PDF page landtuna has shown is a good example of a yagi.
 
You are allowed by law to have an outdoor TV antenna or mini dish mounted to your house, regardless of what the "Condo Commandos" or HOA says. Simply tell them your intentions in writing of installing a TV antenna (the difference between FM and TV will not be noticed, guaranteed) according to local code, and include a copy of 47 CFR 1.4000 stating that with a few exceptions (like a registered historical structure or a severe safety risk), no city council, apartment managers, or HOA can impede your reception of OTA TV or a mini dish.

So don't let anybody down there bully you into not exercising your right to put one up! Just let them know your intentions so you dont irritate the HOA and make your life more difficult. The "condo commandos" at my old apartment did just this by sending threatening legal letters from the HOA lawyer, charging me extra "fees" for the antenna, etc. before I gave them a copy of 47 CFR 1.4000. It shut them up pretty much instantly.

Radio-X
 
so i could put an antennaguard with 20-foot mask on my rooph without a problem? or can I only mount the antenna without a mask.
 
John ....

My Folks lived in the Villages between 1995 and 2010. I doubt they had to go through that much red tape, because of all the WW2 veterans in the area at the time, but Dad was allowed to put up a flagpole on their front lawn from Day one. (Knowing Dad, he probably considered that the main priority, and would have told them to shove it if he weren't allowed).

And I'd heard that it was a * federal * waiver which allowed anyone anywhere to erect a 30-foot pole in their yard for reception of television. The Villages is gated, but it was still, last we checked, on U.S. soil. As such, many of what Goldfinger called 'the crystallized prejudices of the community' go down the drain in some cases.

And there must be a Bible-sized override of local restraints regarding rights of those who are handicapped. Those regulations supersede the ordinances of The Villages, or San Quentin, and even here in Quakake PA.
 
In the case of apartments, I was taught that the managers *are* allowed to restrict placement of an aerial if it can cause quote-unquote "damage" to the apartment building, e.g. mounting it with screws to the siding or roof, or if its placement could be considered a safety hazard, such as putting it on a fire-escape balcony. They *can't* restrict your usage outright of an aerial with an apartment.

At least, that's what I've always heard.
 
John, I can't imagine any FM broadcast antenna small enough to be disguised as a dish that would be anything better than the simple dipole. Being able to put it above the roof level might gain just a little bit more reception than having a dipole down in the room like a rabbit-ears TV antenna, but probably not very much.

I don't know if the buildings at The Villages have attics, but even if they do, it would have to be a very simple yagi to be small enough to rotate inside an attic.
 
John Holcomb II said:
so i could put an antennaguard with 20-foot mask on my rooph without a problem? or can I only mount the antenna without a mask.

As I interpret the ruling, you are allowed to mount an antenna for the reception of TV OTA broadcasts but must meet reasonable safety standards and local permitting. I think local permitting might limit the height of the antenna. Also, reception of "distant" signals is not covered under this ruling so you might get into a jam with your HOA if that was perceived to be the intention.
 
John,

As somebody who visits that area a few times a year, there is a place on US 27 at about SE 156th St., I think it's called Bob's TV....they may or may not be able to help you out, as far as what you can or cannot do. I own some land not far from there....I just cannot do anything about it right now :)

cd
 
Hya again, John ....

It must've been 20 years ago when my late father-in-law, who raised a family in Levittown PA, was considering a retirement move to this place in Florida called 'Orange Blossom Hills'. In retrospect -- and it WAS 20 years ago -- it might have been named Orange Blossom Village. Paul McGurrin turned my Folks onto the place.

Turns out that Orange Blossom Hills was the original footing of the place later to become The Villages. The original, entirely-residential community was this lovely slice of the South, with huge Live Oak trees and their Spanish moss overlapping some of the streets like a pleasant Dixie umbrella.

Thing is, this original heart of this modern community of a hundred thousand began on the OTHER side of highway 441. The East side of 441 - 27. That Aveneda Central strip mall of Winn Dixie, Publix, golf-cart dealers and hearing aid clinics on the West side of 441, now surrounded by the expanded Villages, was not part of the original Villages.

To my knowledge, this older, original section is very much still considered the core. It and other 'neighborhoods' may very well exist under older ordinances. Some of them may be grandfathered vis-a-vis zoning. The late founder of The Villages, Harold Schwartz (from the north himself -- Chicago) had his visions and standards. Subsequent changes through the heirs understandably have occurred. But some of those newer rules and restrictions may very well be limited, or negotiable, depending on the codes of the newer expansion neighborhoods.

For crying out loud, for a year or so there was a huge field where the Villages introduced several dozen buffaloes and let them roam. The field was only about a quarter mile from that Winn Dixie!

Supposedly, as recently as 2010, a visitor could not stay there for more than thirty days without a permit. I always thought that the original rule, if one did exist, was put in place to discourage kids from running around and screaming in the streets. Maybe Schwartz didn't like kids.....only adults, :D I didn't even bother applying for a permit. Screw 'em. I stayed there five months, tending to my Folks. No one said a word.

Anyway, John, there are guidelines and there and rules. The Villages, some time after it was the original Orange Blossom Hills, is now primarily a Vietnam War veteran locale than the World War Two or Korean War retirement hammock it had been designed to be. There should be plenty of elbow room for you to maneuvre.

And if you get any hassles, suggest to someone at WVLG 640 (where my buddy from Long Island works) that half the workers along the lovely Villages thoroughfares planting flowers and palm trees just might be illegal aliens.
 
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